Aug 21, 2026 1:41pm IST
‘One Night Only’ Review: Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro Rom-Com Is Fun, But Fizzles Before Climax
Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro's "One Night Only" begins with some exposition (or sexposition?) over the New York City skyline, laying the frame for its “The Purge but make it sex” premise: It’s been three years since the United States outlawed premarital sex, except for a “one night only” lift on the mandate once a year. Viewers eventually learn that a biotech company named Rexton Labs has given people tattoos (in a design of their choosing) that stay red year-round but turn green for the one night of copulation, activated by chemical reactions in the body.
The result, as anyone can imagine, is utter frenzy: Singles mixers and parties, every brand and business jumping on the bandwagon, people not even waiting to get in the sheets and doing it on the streets that are often sprayed with “F*ck the Mandate” graffiti and surge pricing on condom sales. Oh, and queer people are managing to skirt the rules.
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Owen (Callum Turner) is the owner of a low-key famous pizza shop, whose girlfriend, Malika (Maya Hawke), breaks up with him that night. Back at home, his mother (Molly Ringwald) pushes him to go out and seek something new, which is how he bumps into Allie (Monica Barbaro) in the streets outside her house. Allie is a singer, currently singing nothing of note except pop songs refurbished into jingles for prescription drugs. She hits the bar with her single friend, who gets paired up instantly, leaving Allie demotivated until her gay roommate, Arya (Quintessa Swindell), puts her in a knockout dress and coaxes her into trying her luck again. Through the night and a bunch of hilariously failed attempts at getting it on with other people, the two keep bumping into each other until they finally realize there’s more than just lust at play here.
On face value, ‘One Night Only’ is a pretty fun romp nestled within a pretty crazy setting (written by Travis Braun). It tries to explore a little of that freaky premise — a superficial look at the socio-political and economic implications of what such a mandate would mean for young people. But eventually it falls prey to the predictability of the rom-com genre, which is when logic starts poking holes.
The film feels like a romantic comedy that aspired to be a sex comedy but ultimately decided it's too prudish to let lust win over love. It’s unconvincing that both Owen and Allie, looking the way they do (multiple people do a double-take when they pass them by in the streets), couldn’t find anyone to hook up with on a night when the entire country is out looking for exactly that.
Or that despite a disgusting meet-cute, the two didn’t just jump each other’s bones. In a nation drowning in desperation, the two feel like saints with incredible self-control, restrained not by who they are but by the boundaries of the film’s genre and expectations from rom-com leads. Even when they do come close to getting with other people or each other, the film doesn’t let its freak flag truly fly; it’s always just at half-mast.
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Turner and Barbaro are two incredibly good-looking actors, and their chemistry is decent enough, even if their characters’ romance is built through a series of perfunctory encounters. It makes the film look more like a series of events, full of gags and blatant nods to pop culture, fun cameos (LeVar Burton, Julia Fox, Charlie Gillespie, Nicholas Braun, Bobby Cannavale, Pete Davidson) than an actual story playing out character arcs. The film’s tone, humor and music choices make it seem like it exists in the same universe as director Will Gluck’s “Anyone But You,” starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. And you will be surprised how literally true that proves. But Gluck is the same filmmaker who made “Easy A,” which wasn’t prude and actually leaned into the salaciousness and scandal of its story. “One Night Only” lacks the bite to really leave a permanent hickey on your psyche and make you want to come back for another night.
There seems to be this “mandate” for films today that they have to be either mind-blowingly good and a spectacle or horribly bad. “One Night Only” is middling, sure, but definitely a fun time at the movies. It may not be the best night of your life or relationship material, but it’s a fun one-night stand you can discuss with your friends at the bar, because of just how hot the stranger was and how crazy the deed turned out to be. And because there was good pizza.
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